Who doesn’t love a hot delicious Samosa with their tea ? It’s a hot favorite street food snack for many of us . The famous samosa or singra as we call it is a deliciously fried triangle shaped snack with variety of fillings including spiced potatoes, mixed veg, paneer, meat , dried fruits etc accompanied by sweet or spicy chutney.
It is said that Samosa was was earlier known as ‘Sambosa’ or ‘Samsa’. Samosa which was generally thought to be of Indian origin was originally introduced by Middle Eastern chefs during the reign of Khilji dynasty.
It is believed that officially samosa was mentioned first in Iranian historian Abolfazl Beyhaqi’s work Tarikh-e Beyhaghi, where it was referred to as ‘Sambosa’. The Sambosa’s were small in size which is why they handy enough to carry as a snack by travellers who could easily pack them into saddlebags and eat during journeys.
According to economic times, the first mention of samosa in the royal era began when noted poet and scholar of the Delhi Sultanate, Amir Khusro spoke of samosa prepared from meat, ghee, and onion which was relished by the noblemen during that time. Later, in 14th-century traveller, Ibn Battuta, mentioned about sambusak (aka samosa) made with minced meat, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, and spices being served as part of a royal meal in the court of Muhammad bin Tughluq. Even in the Mughal dynasty, Ain-i-Akbari, has mentioned the recipe of samosa known as ‘Sanbúsah’.
When Samosa became popular in India later the fillings of the samosa was mostly replaced from minched meat to vegetables mostly potatoes as most Indians were vegetarians.
Currently we have different versions of Samosa with variety of fillings. As winter arrives many of us are not able to resist our temptation which is why we don’t just have one but we finally end up having more than one and pack even more for home.
